What did you personally accomplish this week on the project?
This week I coordinated with our PCB vendor to finalize manufacturing details for the power cycling board. We discussed component placement optimization, particularly for the high-current switching circuits that control USB power delivery. We reviewed via-in-pad routing for thermal management on the power MOSFETs and determined which components need to be hand-soldered versus machine-placed during assembly. Specifically, the USB connectors and any through-hole power components will require hand soldering to ensure mechanical stability during repeated plug/unplug cycles. Got confirmation on the assembly timeline and documented which parts we’re providing versus what they’ll source.
I also mapped out the verification test plan for when the boards arrive. For the power cycling subsystem, I’ll be validating:
- Power cycle oscilloscope validation
- Clean voltage transitions
- Current delivery capability (must supply 500mA continuous per USB 2.0 spec)
- Cycle endurance (board must reliably complete 1000+ cycles without degradation)
Is your progress on schedule or behind?
Behind our original schedule due to PCB delays.. The PCB vendor discussion was a critical milestone to ensure we get functional boards on the first revision. Having the assembly details locked down now prevents delays later when boards arrive.
What deliverables do you hope to complete in the next week?
I want to write test code to virtually test revision 1 of our PCB’s. I also will work on making a visual demonstration for part of our final demo.